It’s time. Time to move on to the next chapter. Time to step aside for the next generation. Time to let go. Time to look back while moving forward. Time to make peace with the aging process. Time to embrace my golden years. Time to begin the long goodbye.
The June 2023 Annual Meeting of Cherryland Electric Cooperative will be my last. At that time, I will hand the “reins” over to the next general manager of your cooperative (and mine). The months leading up to that day will be all about preparing the cooperative to move forward into the future that has been evolving over my years at Cherryland.
In March of 2023, I will pass 20 years at YOUR cooperative. I have worked at four other electric cooperatives in a career that started in August of 1983. I never stayed in one place for more than six and a half years until I found Cherryland. I left a small piece of my heart at each stop. I am forever grateful that I found Cherryland while there was still a huge piece of my heart left to give.
I had rebuilt two other co-ops before arriving in Traverse City. Until I stepped in the door, I didn’t know how hard the Cherryland rebuild would be. I inherited a cooperative with rates higher than the area’s large investor-owned utility. I quickly found out our reliability was terrible. I was disheartened when an employee told me that they were embarrassed to wear the co-op logo in public. There was only one thing to do—get to work.
With the help of many great employees, an excellent board of directors, and supportive members, we leaned into the rebuilding of Cherryland year after year. Today, our rates are lower than the large IOU across the street. Today, our reliability is second to none. Today, every employee wears your cooperative logo with pride. I will always be fiercely proud of everyone who was part of the journey. Together, we believed. United, we got it done.
The work isn’t over. I made peace with the journey having no final destination long ago. As hard as it was to get to where we are, it will be twice as hard to remain. There are people in place who will once again lean into this work. The “kids” are prepared. The “kids” will handle it.
After I walk off the stage in June of 2023, I will take on a new role as “cooperative advisor.” For 10 months after this mic drop walk-off, I will be on call and available to mentor, guide, encourage, and brainstorm as the new team gets their legs under them. It’s as much for me as it will be for the new leadership. They will pretend to need my advice. I will pretend I don’t care if they listen or not. As the months go by, we will all slowly grow into our new lives. This is the goal of the long goodbye—a slow, gradual transition to make the separation work for everyone.
What’s next for me? That is a logical question. I have a great answer too. It will just have to wait for another column on another day. You really didn’t think that a column titled “The Long Goodbye” would be written in less than 600 words, did you?
As a CHERRYLAND CO-OP member, being served at our current home for 27 years, I fully understand and appreciate the hard work and determination of Tony Anderson and the entire Cherryland family in vastly improving our electric service.
It’s a day-and-night difference between the constant and often lasting outages of the past, to the very occasional, and short-lived outages we may experience today.
We’ve appreciated the improved costs as well.
I wish you the very best, Mr. Anderson and thank you for your service to our co-op.
God bless you!
Nan Meyers
It has been my pleasure. I appreciate the kind words. – Tony
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME & EFFORTS OVER THE YEARS!! Cherryland is one
of very few well oiled machines that has given excellent customer service & consistent
delivery of power with GREAT levels of communication during the process.
Thank you again & wishing you the very best in future years!!
Thank you for the kind words. They are appreciated.
Thanks Tony, you’ve shown great leadership and we appreciate it!
Thank you.
A person is defined by the legacy that they leave. Tony, your legacy will one of accomplishment and caring about others. Thank you for all that you’ve done in behalf of CEC and its members. Best wishes always, your friend and fellow COOP member. GERRYCASTINO.COM
Thanks so much. I was lucky enough to find a job that gave me the freedom to serve all my passions.
Very nice. Thank you.
I want to echo Nan Meyers sentiments, although our years as members has only been intermittent over about the same span of time. The advances with Mr. Anderson at the helm have been remarkable! We thank you for your vision and years of dedicated service in advance of your departure!!
I feel as if I’ve gotten to know you from the letters and articles that you’ve written. I most appreciate your ability to recognize both sides of issues and desire to work to resolve them cooperatively. (That’s an admirable skill that seems to be especially wanting in the arena of politics! Perhaps you’ll go there!)
Whatever path you take — Godspeed —
Laura Stanwick
Thanks so much. I’m not sure what lies on the first page of the next chapter but I am looking forward to living the book.
Tony, Thank you for all the hard work over the years. The main thing I will remember about your leadership is that you were always available to members, and humble. If your replacement is 1/2 as good as you, the coop will be lucky. All the best in your future.
Sincerely,
Ed
You are more than welcome. It was my job and my pleasure. Trust me, my replacement will be up to the task and far better than 1/2 as good. Hopefully, he/she will be measured on their accomplishments and not my shadow.
Thank you for your visionary leadership and determination to create something for the greater good. I’ll never forget your commitment to our community beyond your work at Cherryland, especially your support of our children through BBBS and the STEP program for children & youth in homeless situations. I wish you all the best in the years ahead, Tony.
Thank you. I will find somewhere to continue work for the greater good when the time truly comes that I find I have quality time to spare. We have the best region with many opportunities to serve worthy causes.
Although we only became customers in 2013, I have never regretted our choice to have Cherryland over a larger utility company. The leadership, responsiveness, service, and clear communication have been fantastic! We love this coop. Thank you Tony for all that you have done and continue to do.
Thank you.
Mr Anderson, as a co-op member since 1982 all I can say is “thank you.” For 40 years I’ve experienced first hand the growth of this organization. I have moved from cringing every time the wind blew to feeling sorry for my sister who’s power comes from “the other guys”. The huge improvements that you have made in reliability, competitive pricing and communication with the membership are amazing. Thank you again and I trust that that foundation you have built will not only be your legacy but will carry us far into the future.
Thank you for the nice words. I am confident the foundation in place will carry the cooperative far into the future and well past any memories of me and those early years of cringing when the wind blew.
Tony, you have expertly told the the truth regarding the state of electrical power providers since you began. Not easy to do sometimes with so much polarity these days, but you did it very honestly and professionally. I appreciate the efforts you have made during your tenure to improve our coop and wish you the best in you next endeavor. You cannot be replaced, only succeeded.
I appreciate the kind words. I have tried to be fair and honest to all sides to the best of my abilities. I am sure Cherryland will succeed in my absence.
Tony, you will leave a legacy that goes well beyond reliable electricity. You are a strong, thoughtful, and compassionate community leader. Congratulations on your next chapter. We will be excited to hear all about it in the coming months. “Thank you” only begins to express our gratitude for your leadership and service. ~Wendy & Rick Steele
You are most welcome. I sincerely appreciate the kind words.
You have provided such great information on many subjects, including the future of electric use, alternatives, good and bad, in an objective way! Your positive leadership will be missed, but we hope your next step will be rewarding and great fun for you, Tony! Best of all to you!!
Thank you!
Well done Tony. The improvements made within the cooperative have lead to improvements within our daily lives. You are, and always will be, remembered and appreciated. May your next journey be filled with as much success.
Thanks so much.
I am sorry to see you go. You did indeed substantially improve the reliability of our electric service. Shortly after moving here in 1999, I quickly experienced more power outages than I previously had in my life. I addressed this in a call to Ron Jolly’s show interviewing you, mentioning the recurrent problem of trees falling on power lines near my home because wind storms are often greater here (as corroborated by the extreme damage resulting from a storm that uprooted trees three feet in diameter, snapping others in two).
You were very responsive, dispatching a crew to address pending risks to the power line, after which none of the much less frequent outages resulted from trees falling near my home. This of course was just a small slice of your responsibilities, but from my perspective, you deserve credit for a job well done.
Thank you.
Tony, thank you for your many years of service to Cherryland customers and the community. Cherryland reliability has been consistently outstanding during the two decades plus that we have been in our current residence. Never had to invest in a backup generator.
With our national energy policy in shambles, my hope is that you will now have an opportunity to share your vast knowledge with Secretary Granholm. We need a plan that does not include rolling blackouts. We never should have been put in this position.
Thank you and I totally agree.
Thank you for all your hard work. I think Cherry land is by far the best elec option around.
And they are always so quick to respond to any outages.
Thank you.
As relatively new members of Cherryland (8 years), we have only known the rebuilt co-op. We appreciate the hard work and dedication you and everyone involved have done and are doing. Thank you and good luck in your next chapter!
Thank you
Prior to buying a second home in your service area I had never on a consistent basis read communications from any utility and looked forward to it. Tony you are a gem! A practical thinker and an excellent communicator you have have explained this coming energy transition well and I believe have positioned Cherryland well for it. Thanks for your years of service!
Thank you.
Thank you for all the thought you’ve put into charting the right course over the years.
Who might be the next general manager? When will we start to hear from them?
After you leave, what are the big themes ahead for Cherryland? In the near term (2023, 2024) it seems like supply problems across MISO?
Since Cherryland has done a good job of improving the part you have control over (local distribution, especially), it seems like the big challenge ahead is ensuring stable production, especially since some of the other utilities that are within MISO haven’t done as good a job at responsibly planning ahead as Cherryland and Wolverine.
The board of directors will be responsible for the hiring of the next general manager. They have started the process. I can only guess that we all should know sometime around January. There great internal candidates under consideration. Rates, power supply and retaining our people are the biggest issues in the years ahead. I have two sons who work at Wolverine (proud Dad comment) so I am confident that power supply is in good hands. Our future has challenges just as our past has. We are poised and ready for whatever comes regardless of who leads us next. Your questions and kind words are appreciated.
Also, having had recent experience after major storms in the TC area with Cherryland (at home) and with the “investor owned utility” (at work), Cherryland really is doing a vastly improved job on the reliability front, especially in the face of worsening storms and a more complex grid. Definitely something to be proud of.
Please keep it up.
Thanks.
Tony, thank you so much for all you’ve done for our community. You are truly an inspiration to me and so many others. You will be missed at the Co-Op but the groundwork and lead-by-example style you’ve brought will help us continue in a positive direction. I hope your work in the community will continue and hope to see you around for years to come.
Thank you. I will be around helping somewhere for sure.
I am so sad that you are leaving. You have been an incredible leader! I’ve loved your columns that have kept all of us up to date with events that will affect all of us. My daughter told me that you will be moving on to the national scene. Where ever you go, the community you are at will be so blessed!
Thank you, Tony, for your excellent stewardship and service. Your professionalism is exemplary. I always read your columns in the newsletters, and that is a rarity for me. I especially appreciate how you always stuck to the topic and didn’t get into the political morass. You were always level-headed and wise. I will miss your leadership and perspective. Thanks for all your hard work.